Exam Application Process

Candidates who have not recently graduated from a CFLE-approved academic program can take the CFLE exam to become certified. To qualify to sit for the exam you need at least a bachelor's degree from an accredited college/university.

You can apply for either provisional or full certification.

Provisional certification is available to those who have at least a bachelor's degree and can demonstrate knowledge in each of the 10 Family Life Education content areas, but who have not yet had sufficient work experience hours in Family Life Education to qualify for full certification.

CFLE exam study group learning community

NCFR offers the CFLE exam study group to people interested in taking the CFLE exam. You can join the study group learning community any time after you've decided that you're interested in taking the exam. Only people who have not yet taken the exam can participate.

This is a non-moderated study group. NCFR staff members are also members of the list and will monitor communication, but it's the group members' responsibility to start and respond to discussion topics. If you're interested in joining the group, please email Maddie Hansen with "Exam Study Group" in the subject line.

What to submit to take the exam

Original official transcript showing degree completion. Transcript must have a watermark, be embossed, or have other authenticating marks as described on the document. It does not have to be mailed directly from the school or be in a sealed envelope. If you would like to submit an electronic transcript it must be an official transcript and be emailed to Maddie Hansen from the university ("Maddie Hansen" and the NCFR address needs to appear as the recipient if that information is required). We cannot accept photocopied, scanned, or faxed transcripts.

Study and review materials

The CFLE content and practice guidelines provide a detailed outline of concepts included on the CFLE exam. The exam study materials include all books used in developing the exam questions, as well as other relevant resources and applicant-created study guides. Applicants are not expected to read all books listed; rather, they can review resources as needed. There is also a list of sample exam questions to review.

Note: You cannot schedule your exam date until your application has been approved by NCFR. Candidates are given login and password information once they have submitted the CFLE exam application and been approved to sit for the exam.

Testing dates for computer-based testing

Submission deadline for provisional or full certification

February 2 – March 2, 2019

January 11, 2019

July 13 – August 10, 2019

June 21, 2019

October 19 – November 16, 2019

September 27, 2019

Paper version

The exam is also administered on-site at the NCFR Annual Conference, taken using pen and paper. Please note that you do not need to be registered for the NCFR Annual Conference to take the exam.

Written exam location/date/time

Submission deadline for full certification

NCFR Annual Conference

Fort Worth, TX

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Time: TBD

September 27, 2019

Score reporting

Exam scores are reported as a scaled score rather than a raw score of questions answered correctly, and is pass-fail in nature.

The reporting scale ranges from 0-1000, and the minimum passing scaled score will be set at 700. A candidate who achieves a scaled score at or above 700 on an examination will have passed the examination, while a candidate who scores below a 700 will have failed the examination. Candidates who do not receive a passing score will be provided with diagnostic information so that they can see areas of strength and weakness. Candidates who receive a passing score will not receive any diagnostic information. They will only be told that they passed the exam.

Each examination is constructed to meet the content requirements described in the corresponding content outline. Each test form uses different questions, and therefore may vary slightly in difficulty. As always, a candidate's score will be based on the number of questions answered correctly but the raw score will be converted to and reported as a scaled score.

Proper psychometric procedures are employed to make certain that form difficulty is taken into account and that no candidate is at an advantage or disadvantage and therefore, raw scores are converted to scaled scores that represent comparable levels of achievement.